Portofino is small enough to walk across in fifteen minutes and storied enough to fill a library. The miracle is that it has remained unmistakably itself, a Ligurian fishing village that decided sometime in the 1950s to host the world without ever fully becoming part of it.
People still arrive by boat into the harbour each afternoon. Aperitifs still spill out across the Piazzetta as evening settles in. The same restaurants remain full decade after decade, not because they are fashionable, but because they were never trying to be in the first place.
There’s a particular elegance to Portofino that Italy understands instinctively and almost nowhere else manages to replicate. Nothing feels rushed, nothing feels overworked, and the atmosphere depends more on confidence than novelty.
That shapes the way people dress here too. Tailoring is softer, evenings feel more composed than theatrical, and the best looks tend to carry quietly from lunch on the coast into dinner above the harbour without needing to announce themselves too loudly.
This is our version of Portofino: long lunches, harbour tables, beautiful hotels, and the addresses that continue to define the Italian Riviera properly done.
Where to Sun
Bagni Fiore at Paraggi captures the version of beach-day glamour Italy has always understood better than almost anyone else.
Set on the small turquoise cove just below Portofino, the beach club now operates through a partnership between Dior, Langosteria, and the Splendido, which sounds almost impossibly polished on paper and somehow still feels relaxed once you arrive. Cream loungers line the water, boats drift in and out of the bay all afternoon, and lunch arrives directly from Langosteria’s kitchen beside the sea.
People settle in early and rarely seem especially interested in leaving. Another swim becomes another bottle of wine, lunch stretches naturally into the afternoon, and the entire atmosphere carries the easy confidence Portofino does so well.
There’s no need for anything overly styled here. The setting already does most of the work. Silk trousers, lighter tailoring, and co-ords worn simply tend to feel more at home than anything too performative.
This is the Italian Riviera at its most refined, not loud luxury, but the quieter pleasure of getting an afternoon exactly right.
Where to Lunch
Puny sits directly on the corner of the Piazzetta, facing the harbour in the way only truly confident restaurants can. Family-run for decades, instinctively warm, and almost impossible to dislike, it has quietly become the place nearly every well-travelled visitor to Portofino eventually ends up returning to.
Lunch here feels deeply Italian in the best sense of the word. Waiters move quickly but never rush anyone, tables fill with familiar faces each afternoon, and the atmosphere somehow balances complete informality with a clientele that includes half the international fashion industry by August.
The pappardelle al Portofino is the dish everyone tells you to order for good reason, pesto softened with tomato into something richer, sweeter, and entirely tied to the town itself. Another plate usually appears afterwards regardless of anyone claiming not to be hungry anymore.
This is the kind of restaurant Portofino specialises in. No performance, no scene-making, just excellent food, beautiful light across the harbour, and the sense that everyone around you already understands exactly why they keep coming back.
Where to Dine
Dinner in Portofino rarely begins quickly. Aperitifs stretch across the harbour, people drift slowly between tables in the Piazzetta, and the entire village seems to settle into evening at its own pace.
High above the harbour, La Terrazza at Splendido remains one of the great Riviera dinner tables. Candlelight, sea air, trofie al pesto made with DOP Prà basil, and a view expansive enough to make entire evenings disappear unnoticed. Even the dessert room feels beautifully old-fashioned in the best possible way.
Down at Paraggi, Langosteria brings a slightly different energy. The Milan institution’s Ligurian outpost sits directly on the cove beside Dior Beach, where lunch has a habit of becoming dinner with remarkably little encouragement. Mediterranean seafood arrives with the sort of precision Italy makes look effortless, and nobody seems particularly interested in ending the evening too early once the terrace begins to glow after sunset.
DaV Mare, the Portofino table from the Cerea family behind Da Vittorio, balances Michelin-level precision with the warmth the best Italian restaurants never lose. Risotto, ravioli, seafood pulled directly from the Ligurian coast, all served overlooking the harbour with the kind of hospitality that makes people linger long after the plates have been cleared.
Then there is Chuflay at Splendido Mare, where the pianist begins playing after dark and the entire Piazzetta starts to feel almost cinematic. Yachts drift quietly in the harbour, martinis continue arriving at the tables, and Portofino settles fully into the version of itself people have been falling in love with for decades.
The best dinners here always seem to end the same way: slightly later than intended, and with nobody especially eager to leave.
Where to Stay
Where you stay in Portofino usually comes down to a simple decision: above the harbour, inside it, or just far enough away from it to disappear properly for a while.
Splendido remains the legend. A sixteenth-century monastery turned Belmond hotel high above the village, hosting everyone from Grace Kelly to the Duke of Windsor long before the Riviera became shorthand for luxury travel. Recent interiors by Martin Brudnizki have refreshed the hotel beautifully without stripping away any of its old-world glamour, which would have been unforgivable. The gardens, infinity pool, Dior spa, and private boat service all feel exactly as Portofino luxury should: polished, effortless, and slightly timeless.
Down in the Piazzetta itself, Splendido Mare offers a more intimate version of the same world. Smaller, softer, and directly connected to the rhythm of the harbour, it suits people who want to step straight from aperitifs into dinner without ever really leaving the centre of the village. Chuflay downstairs helps with that considerably.
For something quieter, there is Hotel Eight Paraggi on the bay just outside Portofino proper. Discreet, understated, and intentionally removed from the movement of the harbour, it feels more like a private escape than a Riviera hotel. The kind of place people retreat to after long lunches and even longer evenings.
The best hotels in Portofino all understand the same thing. The village itself is the real luxury. Everything else simply gives you a better way to experience it.
Shop Your Portofino Look
